The bromance between Pedro and Buddy, the reputedly homosexual African penguins that made headlines last month when Toronto Zoo keepers said they would be split up for reproductive purposes, has come to an end.

Less than 72 hours after the union ended, Buddy successfully paired with female Farai on November 19, said Tom Mason, curator of birds and invertebrates at the Toronto Zoo, at a news conference Monday.

They bonded “very tightly,” Mr. Mason said.

This isn’t the first time a female has come between a penguin bromance, or even the first time a female has left one penguin feeling slightly marginalized.

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Life after Buddy might not be as easy for Pedro, who has been courting female Thandiwey for several weeks but with no apparent success.

“Pedro is very ready to go, per se, but his prospective mate is a little standoffish,” Mr. Mason said.

Perhaps New York penguin Roy can sympathize.

The chinstrap penguin at the Central Park Zoo was abandoned in late 2004 by Silo, his partner of six years, for the opposite sex.

The male duo raised a baby together, had their atypical family immortalized in a children’s book and were responsible for raising debate about whether animals can actually be gay, before their split.

Pedro and Buddy shared similar media coverage when their story became public last month. The pair, or “star-crossed lovers” according to some supporters, have become social media phenomenons, each with their own Twitter account, and their plight was a recent topic on Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night TV show, during which the comedian dubbed their story “Brokeback Iceberg.”

Although Silo chose to leave his same-sex partnership, Pedro and Buddy were split up to preserve the species, which has seen its numbers drop from 1.2 million in 1910 to 60,000 in 2010 and 50,000 now.

A similar pairing from the Harbin Polar Land zoo in China have been allowed to stay together. Penguins 0310 and 067, nicknamed Adam and Steve, have even been given their own chick to raise after repeated attempts to steal eggs from heterosexual couples.

But chicks are not in the cards for Pedro and Buddy.

At the Toronto Zoo, most of the birds are given little choice as to whom they mate with. Mr. Mason said decisions are made in order to maintain the greatest possible genetic diversity.

There was a little anxiety about the split at first, Mr. Mason said, acknowledging the penguins “had each other’s backs,” but both penguins are doing well.

To ease the transition, he said the birds were put next to each other with their females but had to be separated because they fought with each other to defend their new mating territories.

However, Pedro and Buddy will have an opportunity to rekindle their romance later this spring. After successful mating, Mr. Mason said all of the penguins will be reunited.

As for a trip down memory lane? “I don’t believe that will happen,” he said. The penguins often choose same-sex partnerships when there is a lack of female partners around, he said.

“We don’t think of gay penguins,” Mr. Mason said. “They’re bundled pairs. They break up in the wild, they break up in captivity.”

In fact, before he got close with Pedro, Buddy had a female mate and produced offspring. He also had another male partner before choosing Pedro.

It really depends on which birds pair up, Mr. Mason said, although he doesn’t see it for the former duo.